Fruit pitter and splitter.



I. s. GOLDMAN, DECD.

E. E. GOLDMAN, EXEGUTRIX.

FRUIT PITTER AND SPLITTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

I. S. GOLDMAN, DEGD. L. L. GOLDMAN, LXLUUTRIX. FRUIT PTTER AND SPLITTBR. j

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1910.

Patented Dec. 1,7, 1912.

` 5 SHEETS-SHEET s.

' 37 fig. 10.

i QTLL I. S. GOLDMAN, DEGD. E. 11. GOLDMAN, EXLGUTRIX. FRUIT PITTER AND SPLITTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1910.

1,047,786. Patented De@.17,1912.

5 SHLLTSSHLLT 4.

ny'nto'.- 706 Isaac @02072714274 I. S. GOLDMAN, DEGD. E. E. GOLDMAN. BXEGUTRIX. FRUIT PITTBR AND SPLITTER. APPLIGATION HLBD'JULY25,1910. P t t d D 17 1912 a @Il e 80. 1,047,786' 5 S'HBBTS-SH;JBT 5.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

ISAAC S. GOLDMAN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,'ASSIGNOROF ON E-HALF I'O LESLIE S. HACKNEY, 0F PASADENA, CALIFORNIA; ELLA E. GOLDMAN, EXECUTRIX 0F SAID ISAAC S. GOLDMAN, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ELLA E. GOLDMAN, OF

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT PITTER AND SPLITTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that4 I, ISAAC S. GOLDMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and The object of the invention is to provide` a machine by which 'fruits may be split and relieved of their pits or cores with maximum rapidity and minimum bruising ofthe fruit and to separate the pulp from the pits 'or cores, depositing the pulp on trays or in vessels therefor and delivering the pits or cores to a separate place.

Other objects are simplicity, strength, cheapness of manufacture and ease' of construction and operation` The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is an elevation of one Side of a fruit pitter and splitter embodying the invention. Part of the frame is omitted and a small section is broken away for clearness of illustration. The legs are broken away to contractthe view. Fi 2 is an enlarged fragmental plan detail illustrating the construction for supporting the fruit-holder at the moment of the downward stroke of the pitting knife. Fig. 3 is -a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Portions of the v rectangular table are broken away to expose part of the 'mechanism beneath the tabletop and to contract tlieview; and Sonie-of the carrier links are omitted., Fig. 4 isa side elevation of the upper splitting and pitting .knife shown in Fig. 1. Fig 5 is a view.of

said splitting knife from thevarrow 5, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the lower splitting knife shown in Figs. 1 andv 2. Fig. 7 vis a plan view of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is as ide elevation of a knife for splitting and coring a ples to take the place of the upper knife sffqwn in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. Fig. .9 ,is a View looking up from the arrow 9, Flg. 8. Fig. ,10 is an end elevation looking at the rear or dumping end of the machine. Portions of the table are broken away to expose the.

mechanism. In Figs. 1, 3 and 10 the upper knife 'is shown at the beginning of its down Specification of Letters Patent.

i Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

:Application led July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,771.

stroke. F 11 is a plan detail of two of the links `of the fruit-carrier, shown in Fig. 1,

said links being hinged together and forining one complete fruit-holder and two separate halves of two other fruit-holders. Fig. 12 is an elevation analogous to Fig. 10 showing the upper knife in its intermediate or fruitholding position and the flower knife at the beginning of its upstroke. The lower knife-operating cam is removed and, portions of the machine are broken away for clearness of illustration. vThe left hand side is -sectioned as indicated byline w12, Fig. 1.

Fig. 13 is a View of the lower knife-operating cam removed from Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is 4an enlarged fraginental section showing one way and a journal and other details at one side of the carrier, the view being analogous to Fig. 12. Fig. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional detail of the yielding connecting rod for the lower splitting knife. Fig. 16 is a fragmental detail elevation from the other side of the machine than that shown in Fig 1- `showing `the mechanism for locking and advancing the fruit-carrier. Fig. 17 is a view analogous to Fig. 16 to illustrate the tripping-pawl pushed out of operative position. Fig. 18 is a view analogous to Figs. 16 and 17 to illus- In the various views like capital letters denote corresponding relative positions ofthe moving elements.

The frame 1 may be in the forni of a table or stand and may be of any desirable dimensions or shape. Two pairs of sprocket wheels are provided, the sprocket wheels 2, 3 of one pair being mounted on a shaft 4 and vtrate the tripping-pawlin operativeposition.

the sprocket wheels 5, 6 of the other pair being mounted on a shaft 7. The front shaft 4 rotates in bearings 8, 9, and the rear shaft 7 rotates in hearingsV 10, 11. All of said bearings are carried by said frame 1.

The fruit carrier is of an endless chain type and comprises vcoirespondin vcup links 12, yeach having knuck es 13, 14,

and between such knuckles recesses 15', 16, to

dividedreceive a pair of knuckles 17, 18, of another link; each link being provided at one end wi-thjthe knucklesll, 14, and recesses`15, 16, and at the other end with knuckles 17, 18, alined with the recesses 15, 16,'respectively, of its link. The pins 19, 20 have their inner ends fixed in the inner knuckles 17, 18,`and

that the adjacent concavities of two links that are pivoted together form a semispherical cup to receive and hold the fruit,

and at the 'center of each cup is a circular opening formed by the adjacent notches 27.

Each cup is thus formed in two halves pivoted together so that when they pass along a straight course between the ends of the machine the cups will be closed to receive the fruit, and vhen they bend around the wheels at the ends of the course they will open to dump and discharge the fruit. The knuckles 13, 14, and 17, 18, project from the bodies of the links sufficiently to provide vacant spaces or open transverse slots 28, 29, at opposite sides of and extending radially from each opening 27, to allow fruit pits to be 4driven downward through the bottom of the cuj by means hereinafter described.

he lower splitting knife 30 is arranged between the upper and lower limbs of the carrier and is designed to split the fruit pulps from below and its cutting edge 31 has a central semi-circular recess 32 adapted to accommodate the under-side of the fruit pit.

The` upper splitting knife 33 has a downwardly converging centrally recessed splitting edge 34, and is provided at the recess 35 thereof with a transversely arranged fork 36, thus outlining a concavity at its center to accommodate the fruit pits. Said upper knife 33 is thus adapted to split the fruit from above downward part way around the pit and to force the pit down through the split made by the lower knife 30.

The cups, knives, notches, forks 4and ,recesses may be made of different sizes for splitting fruits of different sizes, being correspondingly lar er or smaller 'to accommodate fruits of di erent kinds as peaches and cherries.

The lower splitting knife 30 is mounted on a bell-crank lever comprising two arms 37,

37and a rocker-shaft 38 j ournaled at 39, 40,V

on the frame 1. Said bell crank is pivotally connected by a pivot 41 lwith a longitudinally compressible telescoping rod composed of two sections 42, 43, connected by a telescoping sleeve 44 which is fastened to one of the rod sections 42 and is slidingly connected by a slot 45 and a pin 46 with the rod section 43, a spring 47 inside the sleeve, being interposed between the rod sections so as normally to hold the compressible rod yieldingly extended in order that it may yield endwise in case the knife 30 should meet an obstacle before the back stroke of the rod causes the recession of the knife. Said rod is pivoted by a pin 48 to one-end of the lower kmfe operating lever 49 'that is a lever of the A -rst class pivoted to a standard'50 by a pin 51 and provided at its upper end with a stud 52 on the projecting end of which is journaled a roller 53 that tracks the rot-ary cam race 54 carried by the lower knife caml wheel 55-which is fixed to the driving shaft 56 from which the fruit carrier and both the knives are operated so that their movements will be relatively timed.

On the lower knife cam wheel 55 is fixed a wrist-pin 57, which rotates in the eye of a joint 58 pivoted at 59 to the upper end of a universal connecting-rodGO that is pivotally connected at its lower end by a pin 61 with a joint 62 journaled on a pin 63 which projects from a lever 64 pivoted on the pin 65 .coaxially of the rear sprocket wheel shaft 7,

of which the pivot 65 may be an extension. On said shaft 7 is mounted a ratchet wheel 66 having notches 67 therein, corresponding in number and position with the notches 25 of both of the rear sprocket wheels 5, 6, so that when the ratchet wheel 66 is operated the space between two notches, the sprocket wheels 5 and 6 will be operated correspondingly. A locking pawl 68 is arranged to engage the notches 67 of the ratchet wheel 66 to prevent rotation of the ratchet wheel andthe sprocket wheels, and consequently of the fruit carrier whenever the locking'l pawl 68 is engaged with a notch 67 of the ratchet-wheel 66, as shown in Figs. 16, 17, 18. The locking pawl 68 is pivoted on a stud 69 that projects from a suitable boss 70 preferably' integral with the base 71 of a standard 109 and may be quickly forced into engagement with a notch. 67 by a leaf spring 72, which presses upon the upper surface of the locking pawl and is attached at one end to the base 71 by a screw 7 lOn the pin 63 is pivoted a dog 74 to engage in the notches 67 to rotate the ratchet wheel 66 in the direction to drive the upper limb of the fruit carrier toward the rear end of the machine. The dog 74 is held toward the ratchet wheel 66 by a helical spring 74 on the pin 63.

The lever 64 is provided with a linger 75 adapted to engage a trippinr pawl 76 near the beginning of the up-stroie of the lever 64 as shown 1n Fig. 1'8, and to'lift the locking pawl 68 out of engagement with a ratchet notch 67 vbefore the dog 74 engages a notch to rotate the ratchet wheel 66 as illustrated by positions E, F, Fig. 18.

The tripping pawl 76 is pivoted to the locking pawl 68 by a pin 77 and is normally held in position for engagement withthe active to respectively finger 75 by a spring 78, which quickly returns the tripping paWl 76 t'o normal position, shown in Figs. 16, 18, after it has been pushed aside by the downstroke of the finger 75 as illustrated by position designated C,

Fig. 17. Y

Each of the ratchet notches 67 is provided with a front face 79 and a rear face 80. The front face 7 9 is arranged tangentially to be engaged by thedog 74 for the purpose of rota-ting the ratchet Wheel 66; and the rear face 80 is arranged radially to engage the tooth 81 of the locking pawl 68; the front face 79 of said tooth being a'slant and the rear face 80 being arrangedl practically radial ofthe ratchet Wheel 66.

The upper splitting knife 33 is fixed to a vertical reciprocating rod 82 Working in the guides' 83, 84, and provided at itsupper end with complementary, oscillatory arms 85, 86.

Whichare pivoted thereto by ,pins 87, the

lower ends of said arms 85, 86, being respectively pivotally with a Walking beam 90 that is pivoted by a pin 91 to a standard 92 fixed to the frame 1.

The guides 83, 84, are supported by and preferably are integral with a vertical member 93 of the standard 92, to which the member is connected by a horizontally extended arm 94. The Walking-beam 90 is provided with a stud 95 having on its free end a roller 96, which tracks the cam race 97, that is preferably part of the main driving pulley 98, having a- Harige 99v for a driving belt, not shown. A.

The machine may be power-driven or if preferred a crank, not shown, may be attached to the extension 99 of the driving shaft 56 for driving by hand.` The cam races :74 and 97 are of such outline and relative arrangement as will produce the desired movements of the knives, respectively, relative to each other and the cups so that, the differentniovemeuts offtheseveral parts will occur in timely sequence, thus allowing the cams to be of minimum diameter. The upper knife cam racev 97. comprises a top rest are 1 00, a down stroke splitting limb 101, a'pit holding bend 102, a pitting limb 103,'a bottom turn 104, an upstroke limb 105. The lower knife cam race 54 comprises a bottom rest arc 100,'a bottom upstroke splitting limb 102', a bottom turn 103', a bottom down stroke limb 104. The parts of the races 97 and 54 are c0- operate the upper and lower vknives through the intermediate 'i-nccllanisms. as followsz-The top rest arc 100 is co-active with the bottom rest arc 100'. The bottom rest arc 100 is co-active with the top rest arc 1,00, down stroke splitting linb 101, and the up stroke limb 105. The bottom up stroke splitting limb 102 and lli-e bottom turn 103 are co-active with the pit holding bend 102 and the turn 103 is also connected by pins 88, 89,

co-act-ive With the pit-ting limb 103. bottom down-stroke limb 104 is co-active with the pitting limbf103 and the bottom turn 104'. 'The mechanism between the cams and the fruit holders to advance said holders step by step is co-active With the bottom rest arc 100', the up stroke limb 105 and top lrest arc 100 While the knives are Withdrawn. It is evident that the elements may be variously arranged to effect the co-action of the several. parts.

When the 'roller 96 has reached the end of the top rest arc 100, as shown in Figs. l, 3 and 10, the universal connecting rod- 60 has attained the end of its up stroke and the tooth 81 of locking paWl 68 engages a slot 67, locking the fruitcarrier. (See Fig. 16.) Then the universal connecting rod 60 and the upper knife 33 operated by the down stroke splitting limb 101, make their down strokes; the knife being arrested in the position shown in Fig. 12 by reason of the pit holdingbend 102 concentric with the top `rest arc 100, but of just sufficient length to momentarily arrest the down stroke ofthe first or upper knife after it has entered the top of the fruit to be pitted and thus to firmly hold the fruit while the second or lower knife quickly strikes up by reason of its operating roller ,53 traversing the up stroke splitting limb 102 and turn 103 of the cam race 54, as shown by broken construction lines in Figs.v 12 and 13, tlie portions 102', 103 and 104 interrupting an otherwise perfectly concentric cam race and occu ying a space corresponding approximate y to one-sixth of a revolution. At the beginning ofthe recession of the lower knife, by reason of its operating roller 53 traversing the down stroke limb 104` the upper knife continues its down stroke through thev fruit by reason of the action of the pitting limb 103, and forces the pit down through the segmental notches 27 in the links 26 ,and an opening 106'in the top of thev table 1,

whence a suitable trough, not shown, de-

posits it in a receptacle, notv shown; the upper knife being at the end of the stroke as shown by broken lines in Fig. 10, the up stroke limb 105 then operates to quickly withdraw the upper knife and atlthe instant said knife is clear of the carrier the pick-up of the ,ratchet Wheel 66 occurs, and continues while the upper knife is on its up stroke and until the roller 96 has again traversedthe top rest arc 100, thus completing the cycle. By operating the knives in this fashion and with the relative movements specified, the fruit is cut with maximum speed and with minimum amount of crushing and tearing. The driving shaft 56 is journaled at bot-h ends in the bearings- `10'7, 107', supported by standards 108, 109,

that are fixed to the frame 1. A pair of `short auxiliary relief Ways constructed of The two pieces 110, 111, which are arranged onA tween the ways 23, 24, and fastened to the frame 1. The relief Ways 110, 111, are sufficiently high to raise cup links 12 as they pass over said relief Ways, and consequently to raise journals 21, 22, from contact with the ways 2S, 21, so that when the upper knife operates strain and consequent bending of the link pivots 19, 20, will not occur. The relief ways 110, 111 have rounded ends 114 to raise and lower the carrier links Without shock.

'When it is desired to use the machine for coring, the knife shown in Figs. 8, 9 is substituted for the splitting and pitting knife 33 and the lowerknife 30 is preferably dis! connected. The coring knife comprises a lower hollow cylindrical shell a having a cutting edge b for cutting out the core of the fruit, and four blades o arranged in the form' of a cross to split the fruit. The blades c have rounded cutting edges (l and each blade has two straight edges e, f, at right angles with one another and adapted to be' respectively engaged by vertical ribs g for stiff'ening the blade lengthwise and by horizontal flanges h for fastening by rivets z'. A disk' integral with the shell a; and flanges h is surmounted by a half-cylindrical chamber j into which the core passes; thewalls tof the chamber j gradually thickening toward the top, so as to form a Wedge to thrust the core out of the chamber j through the open- 1ng m. v

I claim 1. A fruit pitter comprising a fruit holder provided with a cup formed of two links pivoted together and provided with notches and with cavities that together form the 'cavity of the cup, the notches together forming an outlet for the fruit pits, a knife beneath the cavity, means to move said knife into and from the cavity, a second knife above'the cavity and means to move the sec ond knife into and from the cavity to cut the' fruit and move the pit through said cavity.

2. A fruit pitter comprisin a fruit holder provided with aA cup formed of vtwo links pivoted together' and provided with notches and with cavities that together form the cavity of the cup, the notches together forming an outlet for the fruit pits, means to move the fruit pit from the fruit through the notches in the cup and means to -move the cup-from the pit removing means and to bend and open the cup to discharge fruit pulp therefrom.

3. A fruit pitter comprising a fruit holder provided with a cavity, a knife below the cavity, means to move the first knife into the cavity, means to arrest the movement of the rst knife intermediately of its stroke, and means to. move the second knife `into the cavity while the movement of the first knife is so arrested.

4;. Afruit pitter comprising a fruit holder provided with a cup having a cavity, a knife above the cavity, a second knife below the cavity, means to move the first knife into the cavity, means to arrest the movement of the first knife intermediately of its stroke, means to move the second knife'into the cavity while the movement of the rst knife is-so arrested, and means to move the cup from the pit removing means and'to bend and open the cup to discharge fruit pulp therefrom'.

. 5. A fruit pitter comprising a fruit holder provided with a cavity, a knife above 'the cavity, means to move said knife partially into the cavity and stop it, a ,second knife below the cavlty, means to move the second knife into the cavity while-the first knife is stopped, means to retract the second knife and means to move the first knife farther into the cavity to move the pit through the cavity during the retraction of the second knife.

6. In al fruit pitter, a fruit carrier provided with a cup formed of two links p1voted together and provided with notches and with cavities that together form the cavity of the cup, the notches together forming an outlet for the fruit pits, horizontal ways to support the cup in closed position and means to drive the cup along the ways andto tip and open the cup.

7. In a fruit pitter, a fruit carrier provided with a cup formed of two links pivoted together and provided with notches and with cavities that together form thecavity of the cup, the notches togetherforming an outlet for the fruit pits, horizontal ways to supportthe cup in closed position byits pivots, relief ways to support the cup and free the pivots from said horizontal Ways and means to drive the cup along the ways and to tip and open the cup.

8. In a fruit pitterq a fruithold'er comprising two links pivoted together and provided with notches and with cavities that together form the cavity of a cup, the notches together forming an outlet for the fruit pits.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, this28th day of June, 1910.

ISAAC S. GOLDMAN.

In presence of- JOHN A. Morzine, ELLA E. GOLDMAN. 

